Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Halfway there!!!

I woke up this morning and looked at my calendar on my fridge.....and realized I am halfway there. I am ten days post op and I have 10 more days until my ear is turned on! My eyes welled with tears. Tears of excitement, joy and anticipation. Tears of gratefulness.....there are no words to express how grateful I am of my gift from God. Everything that has happened along the way in my life leading up to today and all my tomorrows is all part of God's plan for me. What a beautiful thing to witness! I am just beyond grateful.
I had my post op appointment yesterday with Dr. Turner. When he walked in the room and saw me, he flashed a huge smile at Todd and I . I can tell he is excited for me. My immediate thought in my head was, does he realize the impact of his role in this life changing event for me? He is very pleased with my recovery. My incision and the inside of my ear looks great. I can now get my incision wet. I have no pain whatsoever. The only thing I have are headaches and tiredness but it is improving each day. He tells me my headaches are probably caused by my brain working harder to hear out of the other side with my hearing aid. He also tells me tiredness is normal coming off the anesthetic and surgery and I should be feeling good as new in a week. He tells me I can start exercising again but to wait another week before I start my running again. I am very happy. I give him my heartfelt thanks before I leave the room......I only hope he realizes how much I mean it.
Since today was a big day for me.....my halfway point.....I reflected on so much of my life leading up to today. Lots of emotions.....good ones. I think about how a very small part of the beginning of my life impacts a very big part of what is happening in the now of my life.

                                                                 My Mom and I

This photo of my Mom and I in the newspaper when I was almost three years old means so much to me. This small part of the beginning of my young life is HUGE to me.....I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the love, perserverance and dedication of my Mom and Dad. This is how I learned to lipread and talk.....by "feeling" the words on my Mom and Dad's faces. They spent hours with me each day....I would learn a word by "feeling" the word on their face and watching their lips. I would repeat the word by sounding it out and watching how they formed the word with their lips. There were no hand signs taught. This went on for many years along with speech therapy. Being able to hear some with my hearing aids is only a small fraction of why I am where I am today. I lipread and talk well because of the foundation my parents laid down for me when I was a young child. As a child, I had no idea how much work they poured into me. It was my "normal" and was a part of my daily life growing up. It was all I knew. As an adult and a Mom, I know now how much did everything in their power for their child, me, to teach me and give me a life as normal as possible so that I could grow and flourish. And that I did. I surpassed beyond what others told my Mom and Dad could be done. I am where I am today because of them and for that I will never, ever forget. Because of what they taught me, I know that I am prepared for when my ear is turned on! It won't be easy. It will be a hard and long road ahead of me.  But I'm strong and mentally prepared.....I can handle this. I went through years of training to "feel words" and I have the foundation to now "listen" to the words and new sounds when my ear is turned on. I know that I have tremendous support from my family and friends to help me with new sounds.....it will be amazing and I am so grateful that I have so many people rallying behind me.  Thank you Mom and Dad for always fighting for me and helping me get to where I am today.....I love you both.















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